06ASTANA495, KAZAKHSTAN: NEW CENTER-RIGHT “ATAMEKEN” PARTY HOLDS

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000495
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (M. O'MARA)
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUMPGOVKDEMKZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: NEW CENTER-RIGHT "ATAMEKEN" PARTY HOLDS
FOUNDING CONGRESS, BEGINS REGISTRATION PROCESS
ASTANA 00000495 001.2 OF 002
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On October 27, the organizers of a new political
party called "Atameken" (Fatherland) held their founding congress in
Almaty. The party is styled as a center-right party committed to
championing the middle class and small and medium-size
entrepreneurs. Although presidential son-in-law Timur Kulibayev is
purportedly backing the party, no well-known business leaders or
other officials were visible at the congress, and the event received
very little attention in the media. The party must now collect
50,000 petition signatures and open offices in each oblast in order
to complete registration as a political party. End summary.
------------------
THE PARTY PLATFORM
------------------
¶2. (SBU) On October 27, Poloff and PolFSN attended the legally
required founding congress of the new Atameken party, held at the
Kazakh-British University in Almaty. Poloff also met with party
organizers after the congress. According to party documents and the
organizers, the party is intended to emulate the conservative
parties in the United Kingdom and Canada, the Republican Party in
the United States, and the Union of Right Forces in Russia, among
others.
¶3. (U) The party plans to champion the interests of the middle
class, particularly the owners of small and medium-sized businesses.
Party leaders condemned the systemic corruption in Kazakhstan,
which hinders small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in the
development of the middle class. The party's declaration of
principles advocates economic reforms to strengthen the free market,
judicial independence, tax cuts for small and medium-size
businesses, and greater media freedom, among other things. The
leaders of two groups of disabled citizens endorsed the party, and
several speakers pledged to fight for the rights of disabled people.
Overall, the party leadership was careful to indicate their support
for President Nazarbayev, and much of the party's ideas were
presented in the context of supporting the president's vision for
Kazakhstan.
------------------
THE PARTY CHAIRMAN
------------------
¶4. (U) The public driving force behind the new party is Yerzhan
Dosmukhamedov, a western-educated political activist, consultant,
and member of the Presidential Council on Entrepreneurship.
Dosmukhamedov is an advisor to presidential son-in-law and
KazMunaiGaz president Timur Kulibayev, and has held a number of
government and advisory positions in recent years. In a series of
articles and published interviews in the year leading up to the
founding congress, Dosmukhamedov laid out his vision for a party of
entrepreneurs and the reforms it would advocate. The collection of
articles and interviews was available in book form at the congress,
and included a complimentary letter from Margaret Thatcher. The
delegates unanimously elected Dosmukhamedov chairman of the new
party.
---------------------
THE FOUNDING CONGRESS
---------------------
¶5. (SBU) At the congress, Dosmukhamedov announced that 1,112
delegates from 12 oblasts were present. (Note: Kazakhstani law
requires new political parties to hold a founding congress with at
least 1000 delegates, representing at least two-thirds of the
oblasts in the country. End note.) Poloff and Pol FSN observed
several hundred fewer people in the congress hall. The congress
started late, and in general seemed disorganized and low-budget. A
large segment of the attendees were university students who were
given the day off from class to attend. They were prohibited from
leaving early. Many were attentive and interested, but several did
not know why they were there. Likewise, a number of disabled
citizens were transported to the congress, but several did not know
the purpose of the gathering.
¶6. (SBU) No well-known business leaders or other officials were
visible at the congress. Approximately 10 journalists attended a
press conference after the event, but the congress received very
little coverage in the press. On the day before the congress,
Poloff met with opposition leaders Tulegen Zhukeyev, cochairman of
the True Ak Zhol Party, and Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, chairman of the
Civil Society foundation. Neither was aware of the impending
founding congress, and both predicted that President Nazarbayev
would not allow a new political party associated with Timur
Kulibayev, given recent moves to merge pro-presidential parties with
the dominant Otan Party.
¶7. (U) In order to become a registered party, Atameken leaders must
ASTANA 00000495 002.2 OF 002
register 50,000 members in the next two months, with at least 700
members from each oblast and the cities of Astana and Almaty.
Within six months of registration, the party must open and register
branch offices in each oblast and the cities of Astana and Almaty.
----
---
COMMENT
-------
¶8. (SBU) Comment: Dosmukhamedov's writings and public comments
reveal a consistent and articulate vision of political reforms
designed to fight corruption, help the middle class, and promote
small and medium-sized businesses. Dosmukhamedov is clearly a savvy
political operator with close ties to first son-in-law Timur
Kulibayev. Despite his organizational and public relations efforts,
however, the Atameken founding congress was an unimpressive event
that received little public attention. The founding congress
nevertheless served its legal purpose, and assuming the party is
registered it may prove to be a useful vehicle for Kulibayev's
future political ambitions. In the meantime, the party's success or
failure in Kazakhstan's complex party registration process will shed
light on whether it has sufficient high-level consent to survive in
a political landscape that has recently seen the dominant Otan Party
swallow other pro-presidential parties. End comment.
ORDWAY

The information recorded on this site has been extracted from http://Wikileaks.org (Kazakhstan) database..

We wish to express our gratitude to Julian Assange and his team for making this data available as it is an important public record.

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